Something Found
by KJtheELMtree
Summary: Think of this as chapter two of the fic "Something's Missing," by Lyza K. HAPPY NEW YEAR HERE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST! Sorry I didn't get this up before midnight... Lazel reunited!


**A/N: Based on the fic "Something's Missing," by Lyza K. Think of this as Chapter Two thereof. **

**-Beth M**

**WARNING: THERE WILL BE TEARS WHEN YOU FINISH. I PROMISE.**

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

Leo sat on the steps of the Big House, turning the stick over in his hands. He briefly considered, not for the first time, setting it on fire and being done with it, but once again something told him not to. Two months, now, Leo had had it.

Leo put his head between his knees. When was the last time he had felt this empty? Not since his mother had died…

Nyssa sat down beside him. "Hey, little brother. Why so glum?" she chided.

He got up, shaking his head. "Something's missing…"

He walked away.

Leo looked around at Camp Half-Blood, filled with kids running all over the place- he snagged Harley for a quick hug, evading being trampled by his eight-year-old half-brother- the sounds of laughter and his siblings working at the forge drifting across the green.

He sighed, and once again slipped into a daydream.

~this is here because I can't figure out a line break~

_Breathless, crying, trying to fight away his pain. This couldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening. The stick was whole, but Frank was dying. _

"_Hazel. Please," he rasped, holding out his lifeline. "Please, keep it safe." He looked at Leo. "And please keep her safe." _

_And then he died. _

_Leo didn't care how it would look. He put his head down on Frank's chest and cried for all he was worth. Hazel stood there, too saddened for tears. _

~four years later~

Hazel was seventeen and ready to move out into the world. She had talked with Reyna about it at length, and Reyna decided that for her service in the Giant War, Hazel would be allowed to leave the legion six years earlier than most.

She picked New York City. Why not? It was huge and bustling in a way New Orleans and Seward and New Rome were not, her oddities wouldn't stand out, and it bore some connection to Not-Sammy- her real reason for moving there.

As fate would have it, that same day a nineteen-year-old boy named Leo Valdez finished moving into his new apartment in New York City- which just happened to be right next door to an apartment newly rented by a girl named Hazel Levesque.

~line of rope leaving you hanging~

Leo dragged the cardboard box marked "Kitchen" into his living room and dusted off his hands. "I think that's the last one," he said to no one, and started unpacking.

A knock on the door made him jump. He glanced at the clock. Half an hour later? Where had the time gone?

He opened the door and stood face-to-face with a girl about a year younger than him. "Hi," she said brightly. "I just moved here, so I'm making the rounds, meeting my new neighbors. mY name's Hazel. What's yours?"

"I'm Leo. I just moved here myself," he said awkwardly. "Hey, you look familiar…"

"That's funny, I was just thinking the same thing."

"You want to come in?"

"Sure, why not?"

She shuffled some snow off her boots before coming in, and as she took off her coat, Leo noticed a tattoo on her right forearm. "What's your tattoo?"

Hazel laughed a little. "Oh, it's nothing…"

"No seriously, I want to see."

She held out her arm. "SPQR" was stamped on it, along with four lines and an odd-looking picture. "That's weird. I swear my friend Percy has almost the same tattoo, except with a trident. And he's only got one line."

Hazel frowned. "Even weirder is that I can almost remember knowing someone named Percy a long time ago."

"Hey, do you want to go out for coffee some time?"

"Sure! I found this little café down on the corner. I think it's called 'Les Miz.' How about Saturday?"

"Why not?"

Hazel walked out saying, "I'm sorry we couldn't talk more, but I have to meet all my other neighbors."

"It's okay," Leo told a closing door.

~ooooh…~

Instead of visiting her new neighbors, Hazel went back to her apartment, her pulse quickening. Not-Sammy lived _right next door!_

On Saturday, she walked to Les Miz, expecting Leo to be late. He wasn't; he'd already claimed a corner table.

"_Fi-_nally," Leo said with flair, pulling out a chair for her. "I was thinking you'd never come."

"I was right on time, and you know that!" Hazel laughed. Soon they were both cracking up, to the point where Leo had to lean over to catch his breath. Something fell out of his coat pocket.

Hazel picked it up before Leo got to it. It was a piece of wood. A very familiar piece of wood. "Where did you get this?"

"A… friend gave it to me, right before he died," Leo answered. "At least I think that's what happened…"

Hazel opened her mouth to reply right as she slammed into a flashback.

_Losing herself, drowning in the pain. This couldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening. The stick was whole, but Frank was dying. _

"_Hazel. Please," he rasped, holding out his lifeline to her. She took it in shock. "Please, keep it safe." He looked at Leo. "And please keep her safe." _

_He closed his eyes so Hazel wouldn't have to watch his light fade. _

_Hazel stood there, too saddened for tears, as Leo sobbed into Frank's chest. The others gathered around them, each stunned, each grieving. _

She jerked back to reality as her memories flooded back. "Leo!" she cried.

"What—_Hazel!"_ Leo wrapped her in a bear hug, crushing her breath. Hazel didn't care, because she was too happy to speak.

~LINE BREAK OF AWESOMENESS~

**Well, that's as good a place as any to leave off. Happy 2013! May it be less interesting than 2012! **

**Song of the fic: "Losing Sleep," Parachute**

**Currently reading: ****One Breath Away****, by Heather Gudenkauf**

**Dedicated to: Lyza K. See first A/N.**

**-Beth M **


End file.
